


Surprise Party

by tbmd1066



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 07:58:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13142373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbmd1066/pseuds/tbmd1066
Summary: When Levi starts avoiding Hange during the holidays, she's determined to figure out why, and to show him just how much he's loved.This is a levihan secret santa present for christmasdalek on tumblr. Merry Christmas, dear!





	Surprise Party

“Levi! Levi!” Hange slid across the control panel in order to get to the grumpy head of security before he managed to slip out of her grasp again. He turned to her, frowning.

“For fuck’s sake, how many times have I told you not to slide on those things? They’re delicate, and engineering’ll have your head.” he snapped. He’d been in a sour mood for a couple of weeks now, but Hange knew better than to quit. 

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, but I need to ask you a question, and you’ve been avoiding me!” 

“No I haven’t.”

She glared at him. “Yes you have. We’ve barely spent any time together since the survey mission on Chloris 3!”

He sighed. “I’ve just been busy, okay?” 

He hadn’t really been, and she was sure they both knew that, but she was willing to let it go, for now, at least. “It’s okay.” she smiled. “I just wanna know if you’re signing up for the crewparty’s Secret Santa!”

“I’m not.” he said. “I don’t celebrate Christmas.” 

“Oh.” she blinked in surprise. She knew Levi was also from Earth, somewhere in the southeastern hemisphere, judging from his accent, so she had assumed he celebrated Christmas, at least as a secular holiday. It had seemed like a safe guess, but from the way his shoulders had tightened, she supposed not. “Well, even if you don’t celebrate, are you still coming to the crew party?”

“No. Some of us still have to make sure the ship’s running.” he said tersely. 

“Right, right…” Hange bit her lip. “Is there something else you celebrate instead? Hanukkah, um—”

“Hange.” he interrupted her musings. “Don’t worry about it. I have to go drop these personnel assessments off. Enjoy your party.”

Hange stared at him as he walked away without a backward glance.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Cap! Do you know why Levi doesn’t celebrate Christmas?” Hange asked the second she stuck her head in the door.

Erwin looked up in surprise. “Lieutenant Commander Ackerman doesn’t celebrate Christmas?” 

Hange groaned and flopped onto the divan. “Guess that’s a no.” she said. “Would it be _really_ bad to pull up his personnel file just to see?” 

“Dr. Hange, you know I love your curious spirit, it’s great, it’s lead to all kinds of amazing discoveries about the universe around us, and I could not be more proud of you…” Erwin tapped his fingers on the desk. “…But—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Don’t go probing into classified personnel files ‘just cause.’”

“Glad we understand each other.” Erwin smiled. “Did he say if he celebrated anything else?”

“I don’t think so.” Hange pouted.

“Hm.” Erwin leaned back in his chair. “I suppose that he is just a _tad_ more somber than uh, some members of the crew. Maybe he just isn’t a party guy.”

“I’m sure he isn’t.” Hange agreed. “But he’s been acting weird all week!” 

“How so?”

Hange bit her lip. “He’s been avoiding me.” she said. 

Erwin seemed like he was about to comment, probably to scold her for overreacting, when his computer monitor pinged. “Ugh, sorry, Hanj', I really _would_ love to hear more about the personal lives and relationships of my subordinates, like, so much, but I’ve got to get back to work.” he drummed his fingers on his desk thoughtfully. “If you’re really worried about him, you should talk to Dr. Zacharias, but if you want to just crash on my couch for a while, that’s fine too.”

Hange perked up slightly. “Talk to Mike?”

“If you think there’s a legitimate concern.” 

“Uhh…”

“I mean,” Erwin smiled. “You can always just _talk_ to Mike. Obviously. He’s your friend. Levi’s too, of course.”

Hange grinned. “Thanks, Cap.”

 

* * *

 

 

“I can’t give you personal information on crew members, Hange.”

Hange leaned over his desk and smirked, seeing his monitor. "Then why are you pulling up his file?”

Mike planted a hand firmly on her face and shoved her away. "What exactly is it you want me to tell you?" he asked. "Not celebrating Christmas isn't exactly a medical condition.”

Hange shoved him back. “Obviously. I want to know if _you_ know anything, not like, medically, but…just that he might have told you…Not even just about Christmas but like…um…” 

Mike sighed. “Hange, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know! He’s being an ass!”

The Aquilon junior doctor standing near Mike nodded, her antennae waving. “I have also observed that Lieutenant Commander Ackerman is much more easily aggravated as of late.” 

“Hange, Dr. Litpe, you guys do know that we’re talking about Levi, right? He’s weird. He’s rude.” 

“But he’s being _weirder._ And _more_ rude.” Hange protested.

“Is this kind of sullenness typical of humans when they reach their solar anniversaries?” Dr. Lipte asked, blinking transparent eyelids.

“Their solar anniversaries?” Hange asked, bewildered.

“Yes.” the junior doctor nodded. “Is that one of the reasons we must mark down their specific ages?”

Mike hummed thoughtfully. “I guess it could be. I’ve never really thought of it like that. Now that you mention it, though, I suppose Lieutenant Commander Ackerman’s birthday is soon…” Mike suddenly straightened up. “Wait.” he quickly grabbed the tablet from Dr. Lipte. “Oh…” Hange could see Mike’s eyes widening. “Ohohoho…Hangeeeeee…”

“What? What is it?” 

Mike grinned at her gleefully. “He’s a Christmas baby!”

Hange gaped at him for a solid minute before pulling herself together to answer him. “You know what we have to do?” she asked seriously.

“Of course.”

“He _can’t_ know about it.”

Hange could tell Mike was rolling his eyes under his fringe. “Of _course._ ** _”_**

“I’ll talk to the cadets.”

“I’ll round up the lieutenants.” 

The impromptu conspirators giggled.

“Dr. Zacharias?” Dr. Lipte piped up. “If Lieutenant Commander Levi is soon reaching his thirty-fourth solar year, how is he a baby?”

 

* * *

 

> _to Group: USS TSUBASA LIEUTENNANTS, Group: USS TSUBASA LIEUTENNANTS JR GRADE, Group: USS TSUBASA ENSIGNS, Group: USS TSUBASA CADETS, Capt. Smith, Dr. Cdr. Hange, Dr. Cdr. Zacharias, Cdr. Nanaba, Cdr. Ness_
> 
>  
> 
> _Regarding the USS Tusbasa crew Christmas party December 25th._
> 
> _It has recently come to the attention of the gold rank that Lieutenant Captain Ackerman’s birthday is ALSO on December 25th. As such, the plan for the evening has changed slightly.  
>  1600 - Party begins, Lt. Cdr. Ackerman is on duty supervising the helm._
> 
> _1700 - Christmas Gift Exchanges/Various Secret Santas_
> 
> _1745 - Cdr. Ness will relieve Lt. Cdr. Ackerman at the helm._
> 
> _1750 - Dr. Cdr. Hange will intercept Lt. Cdr. Ackerman and guide him to the party. (Reinforcements may or may not be required.)_
> 
> _1800 - We reveal the surprise party._
> 
> _1801 - Commence getting absolutely smashed._
> 
> _1825 - This is roughly when Hange figures that Lt. Cdr. Ackerman will bail._
> 
> _The general plan and requirements for the party have not changed, though the gift exchange has been moved back by a couple hours. As before, it is 3DPYOB. (3D print your own booze.)_
> 
>  
> 
> _Please note that all of this is TOP SECRET and if you let Lt. Cdr. Ackerman in on the secret Dr. Cdr. Hange says she will personally toss you out into space. I would guess Lt. Cdr. Ackerman might also do so himself. (But he can’t kill ALL of us, so teamwork is key here.)_
> 
>  
> 
> _Merry Christmas!_
> 
> _Lt. Cdr. Berner_
> 
>  

* * *

 

"Thank you for doing this, Ness." Hange said as they walked down the corridor towards

the bridge. "I really appreciate it."

"Not a problem." said Commander Ness. "I don't really enjoy the drinking scene too much anyways."

"But still," Hange said, "It's a big deal, giving up your Christmas, isn't it?”

"Well, anything for the Lieutenant Commander, right?" Hange wasn't quite sure what Ness was trying to convey by raising that eyebrow, but she chose not to comment. She waited in the lift as he went up to notify Levi that he'd be taking over the bridge. She watched Levi walk into the lift looking disgruntled and confused, and her heart lurched. 

“Hey, short-stack!” she called out. 

He looked up, startled. “Oh, hi.” he said as the doors slid shut.

_Floor 5_

He didn't seem happy to see her. She tried not to let it get to her. 

"So, um...Do you have any plans tonight?" she asked, watching the floor level indicator on the elevator. 

"I was going to work, but Commander Ness just relieved me." he said. 

"Uh-huh." 

_Floor 4_

"What about you? I thought you'd be at the party by now."

_Floor 3_

Hange grabbed Levi's wrist. "Actually, I'm on my way there right now." 

He stared at her. “Huh?"

_Floor 2_

The doors opened and Hange pulled Levi along with her with all her strength. "Come on!"

"Wha-hey!"

She ran down the corridor, ignoring the general protocol stating that running in the corridors was not a good idea. She never let go of his wrist, ignoring his protests, but noting that he didn't pull away. She finally stopped outside the door of the mess hall. 

“Hange, what the fuck?” Levi nearly shouted.

“I, um…I know you didn’t want to go to the party, but uh…I thought you should know that, uhh… Oluo is doing body shots! A-and I thought you definitely needed to see that before you fuck off to bed or whatever.” It was a lie, a _very_ ridiculous lie that definitely would not work.

“Oh my God.” Levi said. Hange bit her lip, sweat forming on her brow. “Are you serious?”

She nodded, not trusting her voice to not give her away. Levi pushed the button to open the doors.

“SURPRISE!” 

Hange had never seen Levi flinch so hard. Everyone was there, just about, even many of the aliens who’d had no interest in the Christmas party were there for Levi.

“Happy Birthday!” called out various crew members at once.

Levi tugged on Hange’s sleeve. She bent down slightly so he could whisper in her ear. 

“Wh…what am I supposed to do?”

She looked at him, and could somehow see in his eyes that this had never happened to him before. No one had ever thrown him a birthday party; certainly not on his birthday, and maybe never at all. 

“Go have fun.” she said, and shoved him into the crowd.

 

* * *

 

And have fun he did. At the end of the night, Levi was lying draped dramatically over one of the chairs, an arm thrown across his face, his uniform had long ago been discarded somewhere, leaving him in only his undershirt and trousers, which he’d rolled up to his knees. Hange had no idea where his shoes were, and she doubted he did either. Despite all this, he just seemed to be worn out, (which wasn’t surprising) and not actually very drunk (which _was_ surprising.) 

“Well. You had a good time.” she commented.

He waved a hand at her lazily. “It wasn’t too bad, shitty-glasses.” 

“I honestly didn’t think you’d like the party.” she said, sitting on the floor next to him. He removed his arm from his face and sat up.

“The fuck? What, did you throw a massive party for me just to piss me off?” 

Hange laughed. “No!” she said. “No, I wanted…” she trailed off for a second to gather her thoughts. “I mean, Erwin figured you just aren’t the partying type, which,” she laughed, “you _more_ than disproved tonight…” she tilted her head up and smiled at him. “I just wanted you to know that you don’t _have_ to be alone. You can be, if you want, obviously, but we all wanted to let you know how much we care about you.” 

Levi didn’t say anything. He just looked at her, and in that moment she couldn’t have read his expression to save her life.

“I have a present for you.” Hange pulled it out of her pocket. It was wrapped in plain, dark red paper, the same colour as his security uniform. “I was planning to give it to you after you bailed on the party, but you never did, so…” she handed it up to him. As he unwrapped it, she thought she saw his hands shaking, but surely she was just seeing things.

“…It’s a rock.” 

Hange grinned and wiggled closer to Levi. “No, it’s not.”

He frowned more deeply, and brought the not-rock closer to his face. “Okay, what is it, then?”

“It’s one of the fossilized fecal matter samples we found on Chloris 3.” she answered. “I’ve already analyzed it, and since it’s not of any particularly great importance, compared to all the other samples, you, lucky Mr. Birthday Boy, get to keep it.”

He nodded. “Well, um. Tha…F-fossilized…Hange am I holding a literal piece of shit in my hands?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh!” he tossed at her. “That’s fucking disgusting, Hange!”

“No it’s not! It’s fossilized, it’s like 40 million years old! I even washed it for you!” 

He gave her a dubious side-eye before picking the fossil back up cautiously and gawking at it. 

“I was going to give it to you earlier, right after I finished analyzing it but…” Hange sighed. "You have been avoiding me, Levi. I mean, it's not subtle. The ship is only so big. Of course I'm going to notice."

"Shoulda known you'd be too smart to trick." he mumbled. He sighed deeply and slid onto the floor next to her. “I used to celebrate Christmas.” he said. “Christmas and my birthday, with my mum. We’d go to church in the morning, and then later we’d have spaghetti and ice cream for dinner.” “After she passed, I didn’t want to celebrate either any more. It had been a family thing, I didn’t want to do it with anyone else, y’know? My foster family was Jewish and I was so damn relieved about it.” he looked over at her apologetically. “I don’t want to be around people this time of year because…it’s, it’s just easier. And _you-_ ” he pushed her arm. “I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell you’d just drop it. And I was right.” gestured around the room, littered with the carnage from the party. He then licked his lips, and seemed to steel his usually unwavering nerves. “I’ve been goddamn miserable all month without you.”

Hange beamed at him, and felt her throat grow tighter. She slung an arm over his shoulders and pulled him close. “Dumbass.” she said affectionately. “So why’d you stay?”

“When I walked in, it just felt like…like I had a family again, I guess. And I wanted to spend time with you all.” Hange thought she caught a glimpse of a smile on his face before he rolled his eyes. “That’s fucking cheesy.” he groaned, leaning into her side. Hange chuckled, and ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, it is.” she kissed the top of his head. 

“Merry Christmas, four-eyes.”

“Happy Birthday, short-ass.”

**Author's Note:**

> There was absolutely no good reason to set this in space, I've just been in an alien-appreciation kinda mood lately, I guess.
> 
> Less of a Christmas sort of fic, and more of a birthday one. 
> 
> I've done a few different things with Levi during the holidays regarding him being Jewish or not?? And I figure this is the closest thing to what I actually headcannon for him in AUs, having had a Christian mom, but then not celebrating anymore once she dies, and having a Jewish foster family and kind of embracing that instead.


End file.
